CHARGES STAYED FOR MAN EATING MEDICINAL POT

An Edmonton man who ate two grams of marijuana a day for about 10 years to
deal with lower back pain is in limbo after a judge stayed possession
charges against him, his lawyer said Friday.

Meanwhile, advocates of decriminalization called on the federal government
to end the confusion surrounding the medical use of marijuana by legalizing
the substance.

Brian Oates, the 45-year-old welder at the centre of the case, wasn't
available for comment Friday.

But his lawyer, Barry McMullan, said his client "is in a bit of limbo"
after police seized 71 plants and a growing operation from his modest
north-end home.

The trafficking charge was dismissed and the possession charge stayed
recently by provincial court judge P.G.C. Ketchum, who accepted a defence
argument that Oates' constitutional rights were violated by hitches in a
new federal program which grants exemptions permitting the medical use of
marijuana.

Oates' lawyer argued that delays in federal clinical trials, combined with
the reluctance of doctors to sign exemption forms because of opposition by
their professional associations, made it impossible for Oates to obtain an
exemption.

The judge agreed. "In my judgment, it is not in accordance with the
principles of fundamental justice to criminalize this accused (Oates) while
he waits for a medically approved source of raw marijuana to be made
legally available to him," he wrote.

Munir Ahmad, director of the Edmonton Compassion Network, called on Ottawa
to clear up confusion by ending delays and moving towards legalization.
Ahmad speculated Ottawa is purposely creating delays in its exemption
program in order eventually to kill it.

Federal health spokesperson Andrew Swift said the ruling, similar to an
Ontario court ruling in a case involving Toronto resident Terry Parker,
won't sway Ottawa from the process it's developed.

The federal government intends to do clinical trials on high-grade
marijuana to determine its medical benefits. But the trials have been
delayed because of problems in producing the right grade of marijuana.

Ketchum ruled the delays have thwarted Oates' right to treatment. The judge
said he accepted Oates' testimony that he had tried unsuccessfully to treat
severe pain in his lower back and legs by conventional means.

On the advice of friends, Oates also experimented with marijuana by smoking
it. That proved unsuccessful, then followed other advice and began to eat
it. "This time it had an effect," the judge wrote. "He found he could sleep
at night."

He was also able to resume work -- a vast improvement in a condition that
left him barely able to walk at times.